VALLEY FOCUS | Valleywide

Tainted Dairy Products Pulled From Shelves

The California Department of Public Health announced this week that all half-gallon containers of Stueve's Natural raw certified whole cow's milk with code number May 15C and all half-pint containers of raw certified all-purpose cream with code number May 14C may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria and must be removed from sale.

Stores that may carry the dairy products include Whole Foods, Altadena Dairies and other health food stores.

The remove-from-sale order does not affect other Stueve's Natural Milk products or code numbers, officials said.

If people have already purchased some of Stueve's products with these code numbers the product should not be consumed, said Sharon Wanglin, a spokeswoman for the department.

According to Dr. Roshan Reporter with the department's Communicable Disease Control Unit, salmonella infections can last several days and the symptoms include fever, diarrhea and stomach cramps. In severe cases, the disease can cause kidney failure and death.

Those most seriously affected by the bacteria are children under 2 and adults over 65 and those with weakened immune systems.

The department believes most of the milk products were not distributed to the public.